The pinata is an amusement device which has for many years found favor for use at parties and numerous other festive occasions, especially those attended by children. Although the pinata is known and widely enjoyed by members of all cultures, it is particularly popular among the Hispanic population where the pinata has most commonly been formed of clay or the like and has commonly taken the form of a boat, an animal or some fanciful figure, such as Santa Claus. Pinatas of this type are generally filled with candy, coins, toys or other novelties attactive to children, and are suspended by wires or strings from the ceiling or other supporting structure. The children are blindfolded and attempt to break the pinata with a bat or the like and thereby release the prized contents thereof.
More recently, it has been known to construct the pinata of paper mache or other frangible material and generally to include a bottom paper closure which is torn or broken by the child pulling a cord or similar attachment secured to the closure, or otherwise breaking the closure.
In any case, most of the pinatas of the prior art have been constructed as devices intended for a single use and are generally destroyed during the course of such use. Following use, they are normally discarded, with the result that the pinata tends to be a relatively high-cost decoration or amusement device and, where expense is a factor, its attractiveness is thereby limited. In my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,702,675 and 4,253,266, I have, however, disclosed a pinata construction which overcomes many of these prior-art problems. The pinatas described in my patents are reusable in that they include a frangible bottom formed from paper or the like which is broken at the time of use but which can be readily replaced and the pinata stored for reuse at another time. Another pinata which includes a weakened bottom wall is disclosed in Oquita, U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,364. Paper pinatas are also shown in my design applications Ser. Nos. 641,433 and 641,447.
Some of these prior reusable pinatas, however, do not initially enclose and conceal the contents so that when they are shipped the contents readily fall out and may become lost. If the pinata does enclose the contents, as in the case with the original form of the pinata, and the pinata disclosed by Oquita, the contents are sealed in the pinata and it is not possible to add to the contents, which it is often desired to do, and refilling the pinata after it has once been used and has been prepared for reuse by filling it and closing the frangible bottom presents a problem.
It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide a reusable pinata in which the contents are enclosed for ease of shipment and concealment, but which permits items to be added prior to its first use and which also permits refilling of the pinata when it is desired to reuse it after it has been once used and a new frangible bottom closure has been applied to it.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pinata of the character indicated which is also provided with a removable decorative cover which not only adds to the decorative effect of the pinata, but which also conceals the top closure and any exposed contents.